CRM & B/OSS: Putting Customers First

By: Arun Pasrija

Historically, service providers have started working in their B/OSS systems when a customer calls to order service. This moment has typically been the first time any information is captured by the telco regarding the customer or the products and services they want to order. As the telecom industry continues to evolve and customer expectations change, however, the demand and need for better technology grow. In order to be operationally efficient and remain competitive in acquiring and activating new business, service providers need a next-gen B/OSS platform…

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How Operators Can Gain an Edge with Mobile Edge Computing

By: Shamik Mishra

The Internet of Things (IoT) opened the door for organizations to collect, analyze and leverage data from a seemingly unlimited array of connected assets, enabling the creation of new products and services. Adding edge computing—coming soon with 5G—to the equation considerably expands those opportunities. Instead of sending raw data generated from IoT devices to the cloud for analysis and storage, edge computing moves those processes closer to the network edge, where the data originates. This decentralized approach minimizes latency and sharply reduces bandwidth demands, ultimately reducing costs and streamlining operations…

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Why risk management and revenue assurance can’t be left behind when upgrading your B/OSS

By: Bernardo Lucas

It is no secret that the communications industry is experiencing a transformation without precedent. And with recent reports like that by Juniper Research noting that revenue driven by 5G will reach $300 billion by 2025, communications service providers (CSPs) across the globe are collectively investing $50 billion in operations support systems/business support systems (OSS/BSS) by 2024 in order to support the next-generation services, partner ecosystems and business models that 5G will foster.In the headlong rush to invest in OSS/BSS, however, it's critical to ensure that a comprehensive risk management solution that integrates fraud management and revenue assurance is part of the plan— and not left on the back burner…

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Shifting from Voice to Digital OSS

By: Shahin Arefzadeh, Ph.D.

Let me start with a story. When I first entered the OSS market 20 years ago, I joined a company called Granite, which was first acquired by Telcordia Technologies and later by Ericsson. At the time, it was one of the most advanced inventory systems available, competing with other inventory systems—small and large—such as Cramer Systems. To my surprise, the company’s product is still used and is in production in many places today. Twenty years ago, we could make OSS platform decisions with reasonable confidence that our choices would remain viable for many years…

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Streaming Gaming Surpasses Netflix: Opportunities for Operators

By: Parthiban Kandappan

Netflix drove bandwidth usage. But wait until Google, Microsoft, Sony, and Amazon all launch their streaming gaming service.Toss out those boxes and consoles—the future of gaming is here. Google’s announcement of its new gaming platform, service and game development house, Stadia, means that firing up your gaming station will become as simple as opening a Chrome browser on your laptop or smartphone or streaming games directly to your TV. Google unveiled its plans during its keynote at the 2019 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, California, but skimmed over what this development actually means for network operators, and just how the real-time application will drive increases in bandwidth requirements…

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Managing Resources in a Digital World

By: Bernd Pruessing

Now more than ever, automating processes is critically important. When organizations struggle to fulfill new products and services, the manual planning and management of processes may be to blame. To overcome such challenges and remain relevant in today’s digital environment, telco operators need to automate. The best place to begin is with resource management. Why? Because by getting resource management right, telco operators unlock key benefits: a holistic view of all assets and network resources; end-to-end visibility across their entire network infrastructure; and access to critical resource information within a fully integrated and automated management tool…

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Understanding the Internet Revolution

By: Jamie Lin

Definition of revolution: noun, a dramatic and wide-reaching change in the way something works or is organized—or a fundamental change in people’s ideas about it (source: Google Dictionary). Revolution changes human society. And, history is created by waves of revolution, a continuous loop in which change molds and chips away at society. Each revolution builds upon one another, creating distinct lifestyles that are uniquely specific to each revolution. In retrospect (Fig. 1), our definition of history creates analysis and perspective to contextualize and understand what revolution has wrought…

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Taking customer experience across the omnichannel

By: Stephen Pappas

In today's digital era, customers expect service within seconds—whether it's calling AAA to rescue them at midnight in an unknown area, contacting patient access personnel to schedule an important appointment, or getting in touch with a bank to pay their bill or buy their first home. They expect to interact with brands from anywhere, at any time, and on any device. That makes improving customer experience—known as “CX”—an omnichannel challenge. Certainly, there are business gains to be made via CX excellence…

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Letter from the Editor

By: Scott St. John - Pipeline

In article I wrote several years ago, I declared the official "Death of OSS."  And it had, in fact, been dead for quite some time by the time I made the declaration.  And I know some of you, even now, may be thinking of that old clunky OSS you may have bought from Cramer, Syndesis, or Telcordia, all of which have been bought, sold, and resold since then. And you may be thinking that you still use those systems still to this day. Which may be true, but it doesn't change the fact that they are still quite dead…

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Telecom Industry News

By: Scott St. John - Pipeline

This month’s telecom industry news included the first 5G network for commercially available smartphones in Europe, as well as robust new partnerships driving industrial IoT development. Juniper Research shared predictions on the growth of digital content spending and on the increase in cross-border blockchain transactions. Updates on smart home and smart city advancements, VNF service deployments, and the FCC’s repeal of the 2011 ‘rate floor’ rounded out the news.   The top telecom industry news is summarized below…

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